Page 42 of I Destroyed the Elf Prince's Harem

I aimed for my warmest, most devil-may-care smile, trying to remember that I’d been given a sexy face and was no longer stuck with my original goofy mug. “I just arrived, and I’ve been blessed with the light of an angel.”

“Gar! Aren’t you a smooth talker?” she said, fanning herself. Her round cheeks were already ruddy, but I had a feeling that was more because of the heat of the room and the hard labor than any of my flirting attempts. “What can I get you, handsome man?”

A hand clamped on my knee under the table and squeezed hard enough that I thought my kneecap was going to pop off. Obviously, Nylian didn’t want me wasting time flirting with the waitstaff. My grin wavered, and I cleared my throat to keep my voice from cracking under the sudden pain.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” I replied with a tip of my head toward Nylian’s drink. Under the table, I grabbed the bastard’s wrist and pulled, trying to get him to release me.

“And we’ll all have the pheasant for dinner this evening,” Nylian chimed, his voice as smooth as butter even as he continued to torment me.

“I’ll have it all brought over in a wink.” And of course, she directed that wink at me, which made Nylian tighten his grip, squeezing a tiny whimper of pain out of me.

“Thanks,” I choked out.

“Lovers’ quarrel?” Adeline snickered as the barmaid walked away.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” I snapped at her as I pried the elf’s kung-fu grip off my knee. I threw him a dirty look and then directed my attention to Jasper since my other companions were busy being pains in the ass. “Did you get to the bookshop today?”

“I did, but they didn’t have a copy of Uzephior’s Practical Guide to Wards and Curses,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I figured it might be a long shot to find it here, but I thought since it’s Edros’s biggest city outside of Gushan, there was a chance. Next time we’re in the capital, I’ll have to try a bookstore there.”

Adeline snorted. “Like we’re ever stepping foot in Gushan again.”

Jasper’s slim shoulders slumped farther, and he took a sip of his ale, half hiding behind the giant mug. Despite spending several days on the road with them, I’d never weaseled out where they were from or why this wizard wasn’t being trained. Adeline had no love of Gushan, and I had a feeling her animosity stemmed from a protectiveness of her younger brother. Her issues seemed to roll away like water off a duck’s back.

Regardless of Jasper’s past at the Institute of the Arcane, it wasn’t the only magic academy in the world. There were others in Edros, even. The Institute was the most highly regarded, though.

“Is it unheard of for elves to train humans in magic?” I asked Nylian, willing to forgive him now for bruising my knee for no good reason.

“In Wolfrest, no. However, we haven’t had a lot of human scholars studying in our kingdom over the years. Our approach to magic differs from humans, and not all human wizards adapt to it well. In Galinaes, I think there have been only a handful of humans permitted to study at their schools in all of their history.”

“Pfft. Elvish magic,” Adeline grumbled before draining her tankard.

Jasper let out a dreamy sigh and rested his chin on the edge of his mug. “Studying under the masters in Wolfrest would be so amazing,” he declared in the dreamiest voice I’d ever heard. “Galinaes would be nice too, but it would be much harder to learn under teachers who would hate me on sight. People say that the wizards in Wolfrest judge you on your skills. So if they didn’t like me, I’d know it was because I wasn’t smart or accomplished enough.”

“No more ridiculous talk,” Adeline snapped. “I told you we’d find you a nice old, retired wizard to mentor under. That would be good enough.”

Jasper nodded and turned all his focus on his ale while I fought to bite my tongue. This was none of my business. I was already sticking my nose into Nylian’s business and having a hard time keeping up. There was no room in my current schedule to meddle in Jasper’s and Adeline’s affairs. Besides, I knew she was doing the best she could for her brother.

Except I had no doubt that a retired wizard would just use Jasper as a servant and nursemaid to care for him, run his errands, and clean his house. Jasper would learn very little magic, and he’d miss out on the joys of learning magic alongside people his age.

But getting Jasper into a good magic school started with money.

“Almost forgot,” I said, reaching for the pouch on my side. I untied it and dropped it on the table in front of Adeline with a loud thud. “This should cover what we owe you for the rescue and the escort to Riverhold.”

Adeline didn’t look pleased. I thought she’d be crowing and celebrating her new bounty. Instead, she frowned at the bag as it sat on the table. “Yeah, about that…” she drawled, pushing the dark-blue leather pouch back toward me. “I think you should hold on to that for now.”

“What?”

“Take out what we owed for the escort. She can have the fee for the ogre rescue,” Nylian cut in. “She and Jasper are accompanying us to Ulmenor.”

“What?” I screeched again. Really, what the fuck was happening here? How long had I been gone?

Nylian dropped his voice and leaned closer to me so that he was whispering in my ear. “I found a caravan from Kodra who will take us all on. Adeline is using what we owe her for the escort to cover the fee for her and Jasper to tag along.”

I could only gape at Nylian. Had the elf lost his mind? What the hell had she said to convince him to let them join us? Did he also have a soft spot for the little wannabe wizard who dreamed of studying magic under elves? I almost smirked at him. That fucking had to be it.

“It’s just until we get to Ulmenor, and then we go our separate ways,” Adeline said firmly.

“Yeah, why do I feel like I’ve heard that one before?” I mumbled as I grabbed the pouch and secured it to my belt. I’d need to divide up the money when I was in the safety of my room.

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